As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted conventional supply chains, sellers and buyers have been turning to different solutions to keep fresh produce moving to end consumers.
Fresh produce trading app Growerstock, which launched to the industry in 2019, is seeing some of that interest, and co-founder and CEO Tony Nuovo said he believes the digital marketplace will play a part in speeding a comeback for the industry post-pandemic.
“People’s habits are already changing everywhere,” Nuovo said. “When we finally reach the upswing of this pandemic, and commodities are once again free flowing, demand will not simply return overnight for many companies.
“Buyers and sellers will need to scale responsibly,” he said. “They must become more agile, data centric and learn how to do more with fewer resources.”
The company is deferring fees to use Growerstock until June and launched a “matchmaker” service to help suppliers move produce.
“This helps provide our member companies with the best possible tools and resources to locate, track and trace fresh produce orders effortlessly,” Nuovo said. “Additionally, and in response to specific needs of this crisis, we have launched our matchmaker service to help suppliers with an urgent need to offload product to a buyer.”
The platform features a network of suppliers from 65 different shipping points, he said, representing more than 80,000 conventional produce items, sizes and grades.
Nuovo said Growerstock saw an initial surge in activity from buyers servicing retail channels, but those sales have slowed.
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